Spurs notebook: Duncan joins rarefied air at 23,000 points

The milestone came without fanfare, befitting the low-key superstar who accomplished it.

With a pair of free throws at the 9:15 mark of the third quarter of the Spurs’ loss at Denver on Tuesday, Tim Duncan became the 26th NBA player to reach 23,000 points.

Needing 15 points to hit that plateau, Duncan didn’t stop there. He left the Pepsi Center with his season’s most power-packed box score: 31 points, 18 rebounds, six assists and five blocks.

It was another turn-back-the-clock night in a season full of them for the Spurs’ 36-year-old metronome.

“It shows his consistency over time and how he’s accepted the responsibility to be the leader year after year, night after night,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “That’s a grind on people. Not a lot of guys in this league can do that. Or they do it for a while, but not for 16 years. Those kind of guys are pretty rare.”

In logging his first 30-point game in nearly three years — the last came against Dallas on Jan. 5, 2010 — Duncan broke down the door to one of the NBA’s more exclusive scoring clubs.

Denver coach George Karl believes Duncan could have reached that threshold quicker if he weren’t such an elite all-around player.

“I admire what he does, because he’s kind of a low-maintenance superstar,” Karl said. “He knows how to get shots without the ball being run through him. If you want to run the ball through him, he’ll be glad to take that responsibility. But he’s an orchestrator of the game as much as he is a scorer of the game.”

Rehab stint for Leonard: In the next step in his comeback from left quadriceps tendinitis, small forward Kawhi Leonard has been shipped to Austin for a rehab assignment with the Toros.

Leonard, who has been out since Nov. 17, practiced in Austin on Wednesday. Spurs doctors will re-evaluate him today to help determine his availability for Friday’s home game against New Orleans.

Hacking for rest: With the Spurs sputtering early in the fourth quarter at Denver, Popovich dusted off one of his favorite tactics: Hack-a-Whoever.

This time it was Nuggets big man JaVale McGee who went to the foul line, clanking four attempts.

Afterward, Popovich said he opted to foul as much to steal a breather for his tired team, not just to get stops.

“They were scoring every time, and we were running out of gas,” Popovich said. “We figured if we could go up and down a few times and not even have to play any defense, it might put some fuel back in the tank.”